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A small group of armed activists remain at a remote US federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, vowing to leave only if asked by local residents. (Photo credit: Robb Kerr/AFP/Getty Images)

From the outset of the now weeks-long occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon by the militia led by Ammon Bundy, archaeologists as well as members of the Burns Paiute Tribe have been concerned for ancient artifacts and sacred spaces. Their fears were realized this week as news reports discussed bulldozing of land and a video surfaced of armed militants rifling through boxes of artifacts archived at the refuge. And many on are already making a parallel between the militia and the work of ISIS in destroying world heritage sites.

Indian Country Today Media Network (ICTMN) has the best coverage thus far, in a piece by Jacqueline Keeler titled, "Oregon Militia Nuts Hold Paiute History, Artifacts Hostage." There are thousands of artifacts stored in the building that is being occupied by the militia, and the Burns Paiute are worried. ICTMN reports that "the tribe is demanding federal action under both the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 and a 'protection against bad men' provision the tribe signed with the United States in 1868."

This is not the first time Bundy supporters have damaged or held Native American heritage hostage. In 2014, half a dozen people rode ATVs through Recapture Canyon in Utah, destroying ancient Puebloan home sites. And petroglyphs in Gold Butte, Nevada, may also have been defaced by Bundy supporters. Chairperson Charlotte Rodrique of the Burns Paiute tribe told ICTMN that just a few days ago "they took a bulldozer and built a line around the refuge headquarters."

The Bundy folks put out a 3-minute video showing themselves looking through box upon box of Native American artifacts in the basement archive of the refuge:

LaVoy Finicum and others talk repeatedly about how they want to return the artifacts to "their rightful owners." They deplore the conditions in which the artifacts are kept: "there's a rat's nest in here; this is how we found them. [...] Native artifacts, they just kind of boxed them up and let them rot here." Further, they complain that the artifacts have different dates on them, some dating back to the 1980s. Finicum looks at the camera and feigns concern: "So my question is, Why? Why do they just keep them down here? Why are they locked away here for nobody--but for them to look at whenever they come down here. This needs to be taken care of, and so we're reaching out to the Paiute people in as sincere a manner as we can. Please, let's open up a dialogue."

On the face of it, this doesn't seem like a bad sentiment. For an organization obsessed with individual rights, it makes sense in a way: Finicum and others may actually be convinced that the Paiute objects need rescuing. But their paternalistic concern for people they perceive as downtrodden by the US government is misplaced. The Paiute agree that the objects need to be rescued -- but rescued from Finicum and the other militia members. Rodrique is further quoted in Daily Kos as saying that "we feel strongly because we have had a good working relationship with the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge" prior to the occupation. "We view them as a protector of our cultural rights in that area." The Paiute helped archive the artifacts at the refuge in the first place.

The Daily Kos quotes tribal council member Jarvis Kennedy as saying, "They just need to get the hell out of there. They didn't ask anybody, we don't want them here." And the archaeologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Carla Burnside, told ICTMN that militants released photos of themselves in her office rifling through sensitive archaeological files. Fish and Wildlife Service assistant director of external affairs, Jason Holm, further told Oregon Public Broadcasting that the road the occupiers recently bulldozed is "an archaeological site important to the Burns Paiute Tribe." They also removed a fence that Holm said was "a deterrent to keep fire crews from driving across the archaeological site."

The actions of the Bundy-led militia almost certainly go against ARPA, in spite of what Finicum and friends seem to think. Legal protections have been put into place over decades in the US to protect Native sites, artifacts, and burials and to help right the wrongs done to Native archaeological remains since Europeans first landed. Finicum may think he is doing the right thing in his misguided attempt to repatriate artifacts that are being stored at the refuge by choice and by design, but the Paiute vehemently disagree. And as it's their heritage, it's their right to rebuff Finicum and to bring federal action against the occupants who have no idea how to handle the artifacts or how to safeguard their sacred sites.

Rodrique's quote in ICTMN sums it up for me, and for many of the people in my Twitter feed outraged by this brash disregard for the opinions of Natives: "I don't know what these people are doing... if they are doing things to just get a rise or to be a martyr -- all they are doing is making enemies out of the people they professed to support."